Electronic voting apparatus, system and method

• US 7,036,730 B2
• Filed: 12/15/2000
• Issued: 05/02/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/03/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Avante International Technology
• Original Assignee: Amerasia International Technology, Inc.
• Inventors: Chung, Kevin Kwong-Tai
• Primary Examiner(s): LE, THIEN MINH
• Application Number:
  US09/737,306
• Publication Number:
  US 20020077886A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,964 Days
• Field of Search: 235/386, 235/492, 235/383, 235/380, 235/381, 235/375, 235/462.01, 235/472.01
• US Class Current: 235/386
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10336 the antenna being of the near field type, inductive coil
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10346 the antenna being of the far field type, e.g. HF types or dipoles
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 13/00 Voting apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/2417 having a radio frequency identification chip
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/2462 Asset location systems combined with EAS inventory, tracking, logistic G06Q10/00; entrance control systems G07C9/00
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/2471 Antenna signal processing by receiver or emitter
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/2474 Antenna or antenna activator geometry, arrangement or layout loop antennae H01Q1/22
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/2477 Antenna or antenna activator circuit
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/2482 EAS methods, e.g. description of flow chart of the detection procedure
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/38 formed by a conductive layer on an insulating support patch antennas H01Q9/0407; microstrip dipole antennas H01Q9/065; microstrip slot antennas H01Q13/106; transmission line microstrip antennas H01Q13/206; manufacturing reflecting surfaces using insulating material for supporting the reflecting surface H01Q15/142
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 21/24 Combinations of antenna units polarised in different directions for transmitting or receiving circularly and elliptically polarised waves or waves linearly polarised in any direction circularly polarised patch antennas H01Q9/0428; circularly polarised horns H01Q13/0241; cross-polarised horns H01Q13/0258; polarisation converters H01Q15/242; cross-polarised rear feeds H01Q19/136; crossed polarisation dual antenna H01Q25/001
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 7/00 Loop antennas with a substantially uniform current distribution around the loop and having a directional radiation pattern in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the loop

Abstract

The voting apparatus, system and method of the invention provides at least two independently means for recording and counting votes, i.e. one associated with the voting apparatus and one separate therefrom. A preferred voting apparatus, system and method provides triple data redundancy in that each vote is recorded by three independent and verifiable means: i.e. by recording in an electronic memory included in each voting machine or system, by recording in the memory of a smart card separate from the voting machine or system, and by a confirmatory printed record for each voter. The invention utilizes a voting session identifier to provide transparency of each and every vote and to maintain the anonymity of each and every vote and voter.

Claims

1. A self-contained voting machine comprising:

a processor for processing voting information and providing a unique voting session identifier for each of a plurality of voting sessions, wherein the unique voting session identifier is unrelated to a particular voter'"'"'s personal identity;

a display coupled for receiving voting information from said processor;

a voter interface for receiving voting selections made by a voter and coupling same to said processor, said processor providing a voting record including the voting selections for each voting session;

a memory coupled to said processor for storing the voting record and the unique voting session identifier for each voting session; and

means coupled to said processor for storing the voting record and the unique voting session identifier for each voting session in a portable tangible medium separate from said memory,

wherein the portable tangible medium for each voting session is issued by said means for storing alter the voting record and unique voting session identifier for the voting session is stored therein and before a next voting session.

2. The voting apparatus of claim 1 wherein said display includes one of a cathode ray tube, a computer display, an LCD display, a display screen, a touch screen display, a Braille device, an aural device, and illuminated buttons.

3. The voting apparatus of claim 1 wherein said voter interface includes one of a keyboard, a touch screen, a button, a switch, voice recognition apparatus, a Braille keyboard, a pen with writing recognition interface.

4. The voting apparatus of claim 1 wherein said processor couples said display to said voter interface for displaying the voter selections from said voter interface on said display.

5. The voting apparatus of claim 1 wherein said means for stating the voting record and the voting session identifier in a medium separate from said non-volatile memory includes at least one of a smart card encoder and a printer.

6. The voting apparatus of claim 5 wherein said smart card encoder provides information read from the smart card to said processor.

7. The voting apparatus of claim 6 wherein the information read from the smart card includes at least one of a voter identifying number, election information, voting place information and wherein said processor associates the voter identifying number with a voter.

8. The voting apparatus of claim 7 wherein said processor verifies a voter'"'"'s eligibility to vote.

9. The voting apparatus of claim 5 wherein said smart card encoder is adapted for at least storing information in at least one of a contact-type smart card and a wireless-type smart card.

10. The voting apparatus of claim 5 wherein said printer includes one of a thermal printer, a dot matrix printer, an ink-jet printer, a bubble jet printer, and a laser printer.

11. The voting apparatus of claim 5 further comprising a collection container for receiving a smart card.

12. The voting apparatus of claim 11 wherein said collection container is operatively coupled to said smart card encoder for receiving the smart card after the voting record is stored therein.

13. The voting apparatus of claim 1 wherein said memory is a non-volatile memory.

14. The voting apparatus of claim 13 wherein said non-volatile memory includes at least one of a floppy disk, a computer hard disk, a writeable optical disk, a memory module, a flash memory, a magnetic tape, an optical tape, a semiconductor memory, a random-access memory and a programmable read-only memory.

15. The voting apparatus of claim 1 wherein said processor includes means for generating the voting session identifier.

16. The voting apparatus of claim 15 wherein said means for generating includes at least one of a random number generator, a pseudo-random-number generator, a random character generator, a pseudo-random-character generator, and a look-up table.

17. The voting apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a communication interface coupled to said processor for communicating the voting record to an external device.

18. The voting apparatus of claim 17 wherein said external device includes a computer for tabulating the voting record.

19. The voting apparatus of claim 1 wherein said voter interface includes means for confirming the voting selections, and wherein said means for confirming is coupled for storing the voting record in the smart card and in said memory responsive to confirmation of the voting selections.

20. The voting apparatus of claim 1 in combination with a smart card including a memory for storing at least one of the voting session identifier and the voting record.

21. In combination with an electronic voting machine comprising a processor, a display, a voter interface and at least one memory for storing a voting record of each one of a number of voting sessions,

a generator of a voting session identifier for each voting session, which voting session identifier is unrelated to the personal identity of a particular voter conducting that voting session, and

a printer providing a tangible receipt containing at least the voting record and the voting session identifier for each voting session.

22. The combination of claim 21 further comprising a smart card encoder for storing at least the voting record and the voting session identifier for each voting session in the memory of a smart card.

84. The combination of claim 21 wherein the tangible receipt includes a printed paper containing at least the voting record and the voting session identifier for each voting session, wherein the printed paper is human readable and/or optically readable.

86. The combination of claim 21 further comprising:

means for displaying on the display during each voting session voting information for all offices, referenda, and/or questions all at one time;

or

means for displaying on the display during each voting session voting information for all offices, referenda, and/or questions sequentially one office, referendum or question at a time.

87. The combination of claim 86 wherein a voting selection made during a voting session remains displayed end/or is highlighted during that voting session.

23. A voting system comprising:

a computer for tabulating voting records;

at least one voting machine;

said voting machine comprising;

a processor for processing voting information and providing a unique voting session identifier for each of a plurality of voting sessions, wherein the unique voting session identifier is unrelated to a particular voter'"'"'s personal identity,

a display coupled for receiving voting information from said processor,

a voter interface for receiving voting selections made by a voter and coupling same to said processor, said processor providing the voting selections in a voting record for each voting session,

a memory coupled to said processor for storing the voting record and the unique voting session identifier for each voting session; and

means coupled to said processor for storing the voting record and the unique voting session identifier for each voting session in a tangible medium separate from said memory;

wherein the tangible medium for each voting session is issued by said means for staring after the voting record and unique voting session identifier for the voting session is stored therein and before a next voting session; and

means for communicating the voting record from said at least one voting machine to said computer for tabulating the voting record.

24. The voting system of claim 23 wherein said means for storing the voting record and the voting session identifier in a tangible medium includes at least one of (a) a smart card encoder coupled to said processor for storing the voting record and voting session identifier in a smart card, and (b) means coupled to said processor for providing a tangible human-readable record including the voting record and the voting session identifier.

25. The voting system of claim 24 wherein said smart card encoder provides information read from the smart card to the processor of the voting machine.

26. The voting system of claim 25 wherein the information read from the smart card includes a voter identifying number, and wherein said processor associates the voter identifying number with the voter.

27. The voting system of claim 25 wherein said means for communicating communicates the information read from the smart card to said computer, and wherein said computer communicates verification of voter registration to said processor.

28. The voting system of claim 27 wherein said processor is responsive to the registration verification to enable said voter interface to receive voting selections.

29. The voting system of claim 24 further comprising a smart card reader separate from said voting machine for reading the voting record stored in the smart card, whereby an independent tally of the voting record may be provided.

30. The voting system of claim 29 further comprising means for tabulating and publishing the voting record read by said separate smart card reader.

31. The voting system of claim 30 wherein said means for publishing includes making at least one of the voting record and voting session identifier available through the Internet.

32. The voting system of claim 23 further comprising means for publishing the voting records tabulated by said computer.

33. The voting system of claim 32 wherein said means for publishing includes making at least one of the voting record and voting session identifier available through the Internet.

34. The voting system of claim 23 wherein said means for communicating includes at least one of an electrical cable, a local area network, a communication hub, a public telephone system, a radio communication, and an Internet connection.

35. The voting system of claim 23 wherein said means for communicating is operative during at least one of (a) limited times during a period for voting, (b) all times in the period for voting, and (c) a time after the period for voting.

36. The voting system of claim 24 further comprising a collection container operatively coupled to said smart card encoder for receiving the smart card after the voting record is stored therein.

37. The voting system of claim 23 wherein said voter interface includes means for confirming to voting selections.

38. The voting system of claim 37 wherein said means for confirming is coupled to the processor for storing the voting record in said memory and in said tangible medium separate from said memory responsive to confirmation of the voting selections.

39. The voting system of claim 37 wherein said means for confirming is coupled for causing said means for storing to voting record in a tangible medium to provide the tangible medium having at least the voting record thereon responsive to confirmation of the voting selections.

40. The voting system of claim 23 in combination with a smart card including a memory for storing at least the voting session identifier and the voting record.

41. The voting system of claim 23 wherein the voting session identifier includes a first portion that is unrelated to a particular voter'"'"'s personal identity and a second portion containing information relating to at least one of a date of en election, a time of the voting session, an identity of the election district, and an identity of a polling place.

42. A method for voting comprising:

initiating a voting session;

providing a unique identifier for the voting session, wherein the unique voting session identifier is unrelated to a particular voter'"'"'s personal identity,

creating a voting record including the unique voting session identifier and voting selections made during the voting session;

storing the voting record including the unique voting session identifier and the voting selections in a memory; and

storing the voting record including the unique voting session identifier and the voting selections in a tangible medium separate from the mercury and

issuing to tangible medium after the voting record including the unique voting session identifier and the voting selections is stored therein and before a next voting session.

43. The method of claim 42 further comprising providing an identifying number to a voter, and utilizing the identifying number for causing said initiating a voting session.

44. The method of claim 43 wherein providing an identifying number to a voter includes providing a smart card having the identifying number stored therein.

45. The method of claim 44 wherein said utilizing the identifying number includes reading the identifying number stored in the smart card, and applying the identifying number so read to initiate the voting session.

46. The method of claim 43 wherein utilizing to identifying number includes reading the identifying number stored into smart card, and applying to identifying number so read for verifying eligibility to vote.

47. The method of claim 46 wherein verifying eligibility to vote includes at least one of verifying that the voter is registered to vote and verifying that to identifying number has not previously been used to vote.

48. The method of claim 42 wherein said storing the voting record in a tangible medium includes storing the voting record including the unique voting session identifier in a smart card.

49. The method of claim 42 wherein said storing the voting record in a tangible medium includes providing a printed receipt containing the voting record including the unique voting session identifier and the voting selections.

50. The method of claim 42 further comprising tabulating the voting record including the unique voting session identifier and the voting selections from the memory.

51. The method of claim 50 further comprising publishing the voting record including the unique voting session identifier and the voting selections tabulated from the memory.

52. The method of claim 42 further comprising tabulating the voting record including the imaging voting session identifier and the voting selections from the tangible medium.

53. The method of claim 52 further comprising publishing the voting record including the unique voting session identifier and the voting selections tabulated from the tangible medium.

54. The method of claim 42 wherein said storing the voting record in a tangible medium separate from the memory includes storing the voting record in a smart card and providing a printed receipt containing the voting record.

55. The method of claim 54 further comprising comparing the voting records from any two or more of the memory, the smart card and the printed receipt.

56. The method of claim 42 further comprising confirming the voting selections.

57. The method of claim 56 wherein said confirming the voting selections causes at least one of said storing the voting record in a memory and said storing the voting record in a tangible medium separate from the memory.

85. The method of claim 42 wherein said storing the voting record in a tangible medium separate from the memory includes storing at least the voting record and the voting session identifier for each voting session on a printed paper, wherein the printed paper is human readable and/or optically readable.

88. The method of claim 42 further comprising:

displaying during each voting session voting information for all offices, referenda, and/or questions all at one time;

or

displaying during each voting session voting information for all offices, referenda, and/or questions sequentially one office, referendum or question at a time.

89. The method of claim 88 wherein a voting selection made during a voting session remains displayed and/or is highlighted during that voting session.

90. The method of claim 42 further comprising, prior to initiating a next voting session subsequent to a given voting session:

voiding the voting record for the given voting session stored in the memory;

reinitiating the given voting session;

creating a voting record including the voting session identifier and voting selections made during the reinitiated given voting session; and

storing the voting record including the voting session identifier and voting selections made during the reinitiated given voting session in the memory.

91. The method of claim 90 further comprising authorizing said voiding the voting record for the given voting session stored in the memory and said reinitiating the given voting session responsive to an election official smart card.

92. The method of claim 91 further comprising separately storing the voided voting record for the given voting session and/or an identification of the election official smart card.

58. In an electronic voting system comprising a voting machine for providing a number of voting sessions for a number of voters:

a generator of a voting identifier for each voting session, wherein at least part of the voting identifier is random and is unique for each voting session, wherein the voting identifier does not reveal the identity of the voter;

for each of the number of voters, a chip card providing a registration record and a storage medium for recording the voter'"'"'s voting, selections and random voting identifier, wherein said chip card has substantial memory for recording all of the voting selections of one voter and the random voting identifier;

a chip-card reader/writer for coupling the registration information to the voting machine and for recording each voter'"'"'s voting selections and random voting identifier in the storage medium of that voter'"'"'s chip card after that voter'"'"'s voting session is completed.

59. The electronic voting system of claim 58 wherein the registration record stored in said chip card includes at least one of a voter-unique serial number representative of voter identity and a processing code representative of election information that cannot be readily changed after said chip card is issued.

60. The electronic voting system of claim 58 wherein the storage medium of said chip card has a capacity of more than 2 Kilobytes.

61. The electronic voting system of claim 58 wherein the storage medium of said chip card has a capacity of more than 8 Kilobytes.

62. The electronic voting system of claim 58 wherein the storage medium of said chip card has a capacity of more than 30 Kilobytes.

63. The electronic voting system of claim 58 wherein the registration record of said chip card includes a representation of at least one of a voting district, an election, a voter-unique serial number, and voter identification information.

64. The electronic voting system of claim 58 wherein said chip card is collected at the end of the voting session after all of the voter'"'"'s voting selections and random voting identifier are encoded into the storage medium thereof.

65. The electronic voting system of claim 64 wherein said collected chip card is read for producing the record of the voter'"'"'s voting selections and random voting identifier stored therein for at least one of counting the vote and publishing the vote.

66. The electronic voting system of claim 58 wherein the registration record of said chip card includes a voter-unique serial number for that voter, and wherein a tangible receipt is provided including that voter'"'"'s voter-unique serial number and that voter'"'"'s voting selections.

67. The electronic voting system of claim 58 wherein voting records for each of the voters are published or are posted on the Internet, wherein each voting record includes the voting selections of a particular voter and that voter'"'"'s random voting identifier, whereby the voting is transparent.

68. The electronic voting system of claim 58 wherein the voting machine includes one of a keypad and a touch screen for the voter making voting selections.

69. The electronic voting system of claim 58 including a plurality of voting machines as set forth in claim 60 connected to a computer via one of a local area network and a communication hub.

70. The electronic voting system of claim 69 wherein the voting machines are not connected to the computer via the Internet during the voting sessions.

71. A storage medium encoded with machine-readable computer instructions for conducting a voting session comprising:

means for causing a computer to initiate the voting session;

means for causing the computer to provide an identifier for the voting session, wherein the identifier is unique, randomized and does not identify a voter;

means for causing the computer to create a voting record including the voting session identifier and voting selections made during the voting session;

means for causing the computer to store the voting record including the voting session identifier and the voting selections in a memory; and

means for causing the computer to store the voting record including the voting session identifier and the voting selections in a tangible medium separate from the memory and to cause the tangible medium to issue after the voting record including the unique voting session identifier and the voting selections is stored therein and before a next voting session.

72. The storage medium of claim 71 wherein said means for causing the computer to store the voting record in a tangible medium includes causing the computer to provide a printed receipt containing the voting record including the voting session identifier and the voting selections.

73. The storage medium of claim 71 wherein said means for causing the computer to store the voting record in a tangible medium includes causing the computer to store the voting record including the voting session identifier and the voting selections in the memory of a smart card.

74. The storage medium of claim 71 wherein said means for causing the computer to store the voting record in a memory includes causing the computer to store the voting record including the voting session identifier and the voting selections in at least two independent non-volatile memories.

75. The storage medium of claim 71 wherein said means for causing the computer to store the voting record in a memory and said means for causing the computer to store the voting record in a tangible medium are responsive to confirmation of the voting selections by a voter.

93. The storage medium of claim 71 wherein the machine readable computer instructions are transmitted to the computer over a transmission medium including electrical conductors, fiber optics, light conductors and/or electromagnetic radiation.

76. In an electronic voting machine comprising a processor, a voter interline and at least one memory for storing a voting record of each one of a number of voting sessions:

a generator of a voting session identifier for each voting session, wherein at least part of the voting session identifier is random and is unique for each voting session, wherein the voting session identifier for each voting session is associated with and stored with the voting record for that voting session in the at least one memory.

77. The electronic voting machine of claim 76 further comprising:

a smart card encoder for storing at least the voting record and the voting session identifier for each voting session in the memory of a smart card; and

/or

a printer providing a tangible receipt containing at least the voting session identifier and a representation of the voting record for each voting session.

78. The electronic voting machine of claim 76 wherein the voting session identifier is unrelated to the personal identity of a particular voter conducting that voting session and is unique for each voting session.

79. The electronic voting machine of claim 76 wherein the voting session identifier includes identification of one or more of a state, a county, a precinct, a political subdivision, a voting district, a polling place, a voting machine, and/or date and time.

98. The electronic voting machine of claim 76 wherein the processor of said electronic voting machine is responsive to a set of machine readable computer instructions, wherein the set of machine readable computer instructions is transmitted to the electronic voting machine over a transmission medium including fiber optics, light conductors and/or electromagnetic radiation.

99. The electronic voting machine of claim 76 wherein:

voting information for all offices, referenda, and/or questions are displayed by said voter interface all at one time;

or

voting information for all offices, referenda, and/or questions are displayed by said voter interface sequentially one office, referendum or question at a time.

80. Voting apparatus comprising:

a processor for processing voting information and providing a unique randomized voting session identifier for each of plural voting sessions;

a display coupled for receiving voting information from said processor;

a voter interface for receiving voting selections made by a voter and coupling same to said processor, said processor providing a voting record including the voting selections for each voting session; and

at least two separate and independent memory devices coupled to said processor for each storing the voting record and the unique randomized voting session identifier for each voting session, wherein one of said memory devices is decoupled from said processor after the voting record and the unique randomized voting session identifier for one voting session is stored therein and before a next voting session.

81. The voting apparatus of claim 80 wherein the voting session identifier is unrelated to the personal identity of a particular voter.

100. The voting apparatus of claim 80 wherein the processor of said voting apparatus is responsive to a set of machine readable computer instructions, and wherein the set of machine readable computer instructions are transmitted to the voting apparatus over a transmission medium including fiber optics, light conductors and/or electromagnetic radiation.

101. The voting apparatus of claim 80 wherein:

voting information for all offices, referenda, and/or questions are displayed by said display all at one time;

or

voting information for all offices, referenda, and/or questions are displayed by said display sequentially one office, referendum or question at a time.

82. In combination with an electronic voting machine comprising a processor, a display, a voter interface and at least one memory for storing a voting record of each one of a number of voting sessions,

a generator of a voting session identifier for each voting session, which voting session identifier is unrelated to the personal identity of a particular voter conducting that voting session, and

a printer providing a printed paper containing at least the voting record and the voting session identifier for each voting session, wherein the printed paper is human readable and/or optically readable.

102. The combination of claim 82 further comprising means included in said electronic voting machine for automatically collecting the printed paper for each one of the voting sessions after the voting record and the voting session identifier is printed thereon.

83. A method for voting comprising:

initiating a voting session;

providing an identifier for the voting session, wherein the identifier is unique, randomized and does not identify a voter;

creating a voting record including the voting session identifier and voting selections made during the voting session;

storing the voting record including the voting session identifier and the voting selections in a memory; and

storing the voting record including the voting session identifier and the voting selections on a printed paper, wherein the printed paper is human readable and/or optically readable.

103. The method claim 83 further comprising automatically collecting the printed paper for each one of the voting sessions after the voting record and the voting session identifier is printed thereon.

94. Voting apparatus comprising:

means for initiating a voting session;

means for providing an identifier for the voting session, wherein the identifier is unique, randomized and does not identify a voter;

means for creating a voting record including the voting session identifier and voting selections made during the voting session;

means for storing the voting record including the voting session identifier and the voting selections in a memory; and

means for storing the voting record including the voting session identifier and the voting selections in a portable tangible medium separate from the memory;

wherein said means for providing and said means for creating are embodied in a set of machine readable instructions for a computer, and wherein both of said means for storing are responsive to the set of machine readable instructions for a computer.

95. The voting apparatus of claim 94 wherein the set of machine readable computer instructions are transmitted to the computer over a transmission medium including electrical conductors, fiber optics, light conductors and/or electromagnetic radiation.

96. The voting apparatus of claim 94 further comprising means included in said voting apparatus for automatically collecting the portable tangible medium for each one of the voting sessions after the voting record including the voting session identifier and voting selections is stored therein.

97. The voting apparatus of claim 94 further comprising means for displaying voting information, wherein:

voting information for all offices, referenda, and/or questions are displayed by said means for displaying all at one time;

or

voting information for all offices, referenda, and/or questions are displayed by said means for displaying sequentially one office, referendum or question at a time.

104. An electronic voting machine comprising:

means for initiating a plurality of voting sessions;

means for providing a unique and randomized identifier for each voting session;

means for creating a voting record for each voting session, wherein the voting record for each voting session is created during that voting session and includes the unique and randomized voting session identifier for that voting session and voting selections made during that voting session;

means for storing the voting record including the unique and randomized voting session identifier for that voting session and the voting selections for that voting session in at least two independent memories at the end of each voting session;

wherein each voting record including the unique and randomized voting session identifier for that voting session and the voting selections for that voting session that is stored in at least one of the at least two independent memories cannot be changed by any means included in said electronic voting machine after completion of the voting session in which the voting record is created and stored,

wherein said means for providing and said means for creating are embodied in a set of machine readable instructions far a computer,

wherein said means for storing is responsive to the set of machine readable instructions for a computer; and

wherein the set of machine readable computer instructions are transmitted to the voting apparatus over a transmission medium including fiber optics, light conductors and/or electromagnetic radiation.

105. The electronic voting machine of claim 104 further comprising means for issuing the at least one of the at least two independent memories that cannot be changed by any means included in said electronic voting machine after completion of the voting session in which the voting record is created and stored.

106. A method for voting comprising:

prior to any voting session, transmitting a set of machine readable computer instructions to a voting machine over a transmission medium including fiber optics, light conductors and/or electromagnetic radiation;

initiating a plurality of voting sessions;

for each of a plurality of voting sessions conducted on the voting machine;

providing a unique and randomized voting session identifier for each one of the number of voting sessions;

displaying during each voting session responsive to the set of machine readable computer instructions voting information for each office, referendum, and/or question;

creating responsive to the set of machine readable computer instructions a voting record including voting selections made for each office, referendum, and/or question and the unique and randomized voting session identifier,

storing responsive to the set of machine readable computer instructions the voting record including voting selections and the unique and randomized voting session identifier in at least two independent memories during the voting session; and

ending each voting session prior to initiating a next voting session; and

tabulating or tallying the voting selections for the voting records stored in the memory for all of the plurality of voting sessions.

107. The method of claim 106 wherein, for each of the plurality of voting sessions, said storing includes storing the voting record of each one of the number of voting sessions on a permanent portable tangible medium during the voting session.

108. The method of claim 106 further comprising for each of to plurality of voting sessions, issuing at least one of the two independent memories at the end of the voting session so that the voting record including voting selections end the unique and randomized voting session identifier stored therein cannot be changed by the voting machine after the end of the voting session.